Gleb's patient suffers from the stutter so extreme, he can just as well be mute. Gleb suggests him to write everything on a paper... only to learn that the patient writes so badly, it resembles a cardiogram rather than any meaningful text. Gleb then decides to give him a laptop... but the patient doesn't know how to use it and wastes time because he can't switch it from English to Russian. Gleb even considers using Morse code, but ultimately just gives up.
Varya accidentally violates the rules about drugs disposal by throwing out the used ampule, and now must find it before it's too late, or she can potentially lose her job or even go to jail. Out of desperation, she tries to search in the dumpster, unaware that a nurse Galya already found this ampule in trash can and gave it to Bykov. Varya fruitlessly searches in the dumpster, nearly going insane from panic, and eventually just gives up and accepts the incoming punishment... only for Bykov to reveal that he had this ampule all along. Varya doesn't take it well.
Lobanov gets told to shave clean someone named Snegiryova (who's not in the ward right now), for upcoming surgery. When he visits the ward later, he finds a sedated woman. He decides to not wait and just shave her right in her sleep, unaware that it's the other woman who was put there by mistake, and she's now after his blood. Fortunately, Semyon manages to deceive her into believing that he is "Doctor Gagarin", and bribes Kupitman to pretend to be Chief Doctor, so she loses a track of him. His plan almost works... but then the patient meets Bykov and learns the truth. And it's already too late to run...
Levin complains to Kisegach about Bykov and his abusive leadership, and demands a new mentor instead of Bykov, but when she confronts Bykov about this, Bykov decides to change tactic and pretend that he's Levin's best friend and that Levin is his "best protege". Levin falls for it, but then he remembers what he's told Kisegach earlier. He tries to take his statement back, but Kisegach agrees to play along with Bykov's prank, and pretends that she would actually act on it and fire Bykov. Bykov plans to pretend that he indeed got fired, and then fake his death — all just to cause Levin to regret being a "snitch". But Levin learns about this in time to cooperate with the other interns in attempt to awake Bykov's conscience... only to realise that Bykov doesn't see anything wrong with his "little game".
This episode provides examples of:
- All for Nothing:
- Varya makes a mistake of throwing ampule into trashcan, and fails to retrieve it in time, so she has to search in the trash dumpster. When Pasha comes to throw some trash, and picks the dumpster she's in, Varya looks shaggy, dirty and almost insane; she angrily, almost hysterically calls him out on picking that dumpster specifically. Then she spends a lot of time fruitlessly searching everything, making a massive mess, before she ultimately gives up... only to learn that she wasn't meant to do that to begin with.
- Lobanov tried to so hard to keep the woman whom he shaved by mistake away from himself, even recruited Kupitman (whom he now owes 3 bottles of cognac) to play chief doctor. But when he thinks that he's now safe, the woman asks Bykov where is Lobanov right behind his back, and gets pointed at Semyon. Lobanov gets told to run, but it's too late: the patient attacks him right at Lyuba's post.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: When Bykov again addresses Levin with "Doctor", he expects him to say "Doctor Lenin" again and instinctively corrects him, but Bykov actually says his surname properly for once. Of course, it's all part of the scheme.
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: When woman whom Lobanov earlier shaved by mistake asks him for help with looking for him (Lobanov doesn't wear his badge, for some reason), he lies to her that he is "Doctor Gagarin", and volunteers to "help" her find him, only to waste her time. Eventually, she gets tired of the pointless "searches", and just goes straight to Chief Doctor. However, she doesn't know how Chief Doctor looks like (or even their name), so Lobanov bribes Kupitman to pretend to be one.
- Chekhov's Gun: When Lobanov gets told about his patient, Snegiryova, the camera shows two empty beds (Snegiryova isn't there at the moment). Later, the orderlies brings the second woman, still sedated after surgery, and by mistake put her on Snegiryova's bed. And since Lobanov is too lazy to double-check...
- Didn't Think This Through: When Romanenko learns that Bykov would be fired (except not really), he decides to gloat... but he forgets two things which Bykov helpfully reminds him: firstly, an order about him being fired is not yet in force, and secondly, even if he would be fired, he would still work for two more months before leaving. Two. Hellish. Months. Gleb takes the warning and promptly leaves.
- Everyone Has Standards: Subverted with Kisegach, twice. She refuses to participate in Bykov's prank on Levin, but changes her mind when Levin does back down on his statement. She tries to refuse to participate further, but we later learn that she did let Bykov to put around fake orders about him being fired, this time without even talking to Levin beforehand.
- Exact Eavesdropping: Levin tries to steal and destroy his statement about Bykov being removed. He succeeds, but he hears Bykov and Kisegach coming in, so he hides in the closet... and overhears that Bykov lied about being his friend, and he's not gonna get fired either. Additionally, Bykov plans to make lots of fake orders about him being fired, place them around the hospital and then pretend to be dead, all just to mock Levin further.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Gleb can't interrogate his patient because of his extreme stutter, only learning his surname (Kutuzov
) due to him saying first letter and closing his eye.note He tries to make him write, only to find out that he's unable to write comprehensibly. He gives him a laptop... and turns out that the patient doesn't know how to use it (it's set to English by default, and he failed to switch it to type in Russian). Gleb just can't help but swear. When Levin later comes in to recruit him to "save" Bykov, he's considering trying Morse code, in faint hope that Kutuzov knows at least that. - Good All Along: Invoked by Bykov when he lies to Levin that all this time, he was actually his "best friend" and secretly acted in his interests. Levin falls for it, but later finds out the truth.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: When Levin tries to recruit Gleb to help to prevent Kisegach from firing Bykov (not knowing that it's a big prank on him), Gleb gets excited, and says that when his mother would fire Bykov, he would ask her to promote Levin onto Bykov's old position.
- Imagine Spot: Bykov tells Varya that the drug she injected patient with is on strict control, so she's supposed to properly register any used ampules. Varya remembers that she actually just threw it into trashcan, and runs to return it, only to realise that she's too late. She readily imagines the police dragging her away, with Bykov saying that he's unable to intervene: that's the law.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Bykov asks Kisegach to refuse to give Levin back his statement when he would come and ask for it. Kisegach says that she doesn't believe that this is gonna happen, as Levin seemed pretty serious when giving it to her. Cue Leving coming in and sheepishly asking to take the statement back, as he "was wrong about Bykov". Kisegach, following the impulse, plays along with Bykov's prank, by saying that she's gonna fire Bykov.
- Manipulative Bastard: Bykov pretends to be Levin's best friend to force him to regret his attempt to fire Bykov. When he decides that it's too simple, he creates lots of fake orders about him being fired, and then pretends to die from stroke (Lyuba falls for it, though, and genuinely sad about his "death").
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Levin falls for Bykov's deception and thinks that they're now pals. He then remembers that he requested changing Bykov for other mentor, and he rushes to stop Kisegach. But she pretends that she's gonna outright fire Bykov.
- Once Bykov's deception gets revealed, the interns cooperates to cause Bykov to realise that he went too far, by pretending that Levin killed himself over making Bykov fired, not knowing that it was Bykov's prank. It fails, as Bykov sees nothing wrong with him pranking people.
- Oh, Crap!:
- When Varya realises that it's too late and the empty ampule is gone (which means, she already broke the drug disposal rules and get into troubles with police), she panics.
- When patient whom Lobanov shaved realises that she's now bald, she looks at cut hairs (which still lies there) in utter shock, and then screams. The shock very quickly gets replaced by anger.
- Poor Communication Kills: The orderlies don't bother to learn where to put the patient, and since she's still sedated, puts her randomly. Lobanov doesn't bother to wait for her to wake up (which would've confirmed that she's not Snegiryova), and jus shaves her clean in her sleep, making her run for his blood. Gleb later points his idiocy.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When orderly Pasha sees Varya searching in the dumpster and shouting at him, he decides to just silently leave.
- Speech Impediment: Gleb's patient suffers from extreme stutter, to the point of being The Unintelligible (he can't pronounce more than one syllable of any word).
- Troll: When Bykov finds out about Levin ratting him out to Kisegach, he decides to pretend to be Levin's best friend and good mentor, to force him to regret this. But this is only the first part of his plan; he later pretends to be fired for real, and then fakes his death from a stroke, all just to troll Levin.
- The Unintelligible: Gleb's patient. Not being able to speak due his stutter is one thing, but not being able to write in any comprehensible way...
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- When Varya learns that Bykov found that lost ampule almost immediately, but allowed her to search for it in the dumpster anyway, she doesn't take it well.
- Gleb, Semyon and Varya cooperates with Levin (who pretends to off himself over making Bykov fired) and calls Bykov out on his scheme, in (ultimately futile) attempt to awaken his conscience.
